Long Time, No See
by Commander Mander
Summary: It's been some time since Commander German Shepard had quit working with Cerberus and was detained by the Alliance. Now reinstated after a full force Reaper invasion on Vancouver, the commander recruits some old friends, and eventually her fleeing brother, on a journey to unite the galaxy and stop the cycle once and for all. Sequel to Long Lost. You should probably read that first.
1. The Reapers Are Coming!

It had been about six months since Commander German Shepard discontinued her work with Cerberus and turned herself into the Alliance. Following such events she was grounded indefinitely, put under constant surveillance, and her entire crew had disbanded. She didn't really care that much about what had happened to certain members of her crew, and she'd even lost contact with her brother, Alan, who'd fled to avoid any consequences of being an Admiral who betrayed the Alliance to work with Cerberus. He saw what happened to his sister, THE Commander Shepard, and thought if they'd treat her like that, what would happen to him? Stripped of his title? Jail time? Fuck it, he fled to Omega, disguised himself with a cheap black wig and brown contact lenses, changed his name to the pseudonym, Seymour Butts, and started working as an assassin for Aria T'loak.

Shepard was basically just a paper pusher at this point, and she sat at her desk in a Vancouver Alliance office doing busy work when she was intruded upon by Admiral Anderson.

"Anderson, I heard you and the Earth Council wanted to see me. What's this all about?"

"Shepard, we've got a big problem on our hands," he started, leading Shepard through the corridors of the building. "It looks like we're facing a possible oncoming reaper invasion."

"Whaaaaat? A reaper invasion? Right now? Naw, really? You mean after all those times that I warned you guys over the past like three years, you mean to tell me that the reapers are coming? Woe is me, what ever will we do?" she replied sarcastically, even going as far as to throw the back of her hand over her forehead like a true damsel in distress.

"Ha ha, very funny, Shepard. But this is serious. The council wants to speak with you to ask you for you advice."

Just as they were turning another corner, Shepard was greeted by a familiar face. Ashley Williams.

"Shepard? Is that really you?"

"Woah who are- My Lord Jesus, Ashley Williams, is that you? I mean wow..."

"What? What do you mean 'wow'?"

"I mean, wow you just look really different. Who'd known what a difference letting your hair down could make. I can't believe it took you 3 years to figure out how to be hot."

"Excuse me?"

"Look at the time, I gotta go talk to the Earth Council, catch ya later, Ash!" Shepard finished with a wink.

Just as Shepard and Anderson were traipsing off to the council, James Vega asked Ashley, "you know the Commander?" To which Ashley responded, "I think she just hit on me."

* * *

"Shepard, we need you to take a look at this footage and tell us what you think it could be," requested one member of the council.

Shepard barely even glanced at the footage before responding with, "Yep, those are reapers."

"Oh, God. Shepard, what should we do?" asked a frightened elderly council member.

"Honestly, I don't think there's much we can do. The reapers have WAY better technology than us, they're bigger than us, they're stronger than us, and just to top it all off there are so many of them. So many. My best bet is submission. We all just lay down on the ground right now, come on, everyone do it with me, we all just lay down and submit." Shepard finished as she slowly began crouching toward the ground.

"WHAT? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? SUBMISSION? WELL I'LL BE D-" the council member was cut off by a giant reaper beam cutting right through the center of the building.

"Jesus Christ!" Shepard burst, ducking out of the way, her and Anderson barely making it.

"Shepard, we've got to get out of here!"

"No, I was thinking we'd just-"

"No time for sarcasm," he interrupted. "Here, take this gun, we've got to go now!"

Shepard followed Anderson from the hole in the building, through the demolished pits of what once was Vancouver. She could hear the reaper's beams and people screaming all over. Once they made it to the next building, Shepard saw a little boy crawling into a ventilation shaft. She went over to him.

"Hey, what are you doing in there? You've got to get out of there!" Shepard cautioned.

"I can't," The child responded.

"Yes, you can. Take my hand, let me help you."

"No, no one can help me..."

"Shepard," Anderson boomed, "we've got to get out of here, now!"

Shepard looked back toward the shaft, where the child was no more.

She began following Anderson once again when they were thrown back by a surprise explosion. Regardless, they forged on. Once they made it passed the multitude of new reaper forces, they made it to a ship, that specific ship being the downgraded version of the Normandy, the one that the Alliance confiscated from Cerberus and took all of the cool Cerberus tech out of.

Although the Normandy was no longer as interesting, technologically, it was still pretty neat to see Joker and the new and improved Ashley on board covering Shepard's back. Oh, and James was there, too.

Shepard hopped aboard, proud to be back on her ship.

"You know I'm still stripped of duty, according to the Alliance. I can't command this ship."

Anderson tossed Shepard her Alliance dog tags, which he just happened to have in his pocket for some reason.

"Consider yourself reinstated, Commander Shepard!"

"I've still got room on the ship if you want to come along!" Shepard persuaded.

"I can't, Shepard. You know someone's got to be leading these people here on Earth." He took a long look at the destruction behind him, then back at Shepard. "I've got to go, Shepard. Take care of yourself and your crew." He saluted and went off.

As the ship began to take off, Shepard once again saw the little boy from the ventilation shaft near the emergency evacuation ships just wandering around.

 _There's a little boy wandering around aimlessly and no one seems to notice him? Where are his parents? Am I hallucinating?_ Shepard thought to herself.

She then saw the little boy pull himself onto the ship, no one helping, and still no one seeming to notice him. Once the ship took off it was immediately hit by a reaper beam, killing everyone on board.

Shepard felt as if she was the only one who saw what took place, so she turned to Ashley who was standing right next to her.

"Hey, Ash, did you see what just happened?"

"What you mean that ship going down? Yeah I saw that, sad stuff. Anyway we gotta go."

"No, I mean, the little boy on that ship. You didn't see a little boy on that ship?"

"No, but if there was one he got on the wrong ship. The ship that takes children is over there." Ashley stated, pointing to the evacuation ship that was to the left of the one that had just exploded.

 _Maybe I WAS just hallucinating,_ She thought once again, turning into the ship and shutting the airlock.


	2. The Archives

As soon as Shepard was on the ship she was ordered to Mars by Admiral Hackett. Apparently there was something found there that could give the galaxy leverage over the reapers. Shepard, with Ashley and James in tow, ventured out to Mars, where they were alarmed to see Cerberus forces already stationed.

"Cerberus? What are they doing here? Shepard, do you know anything about this?" Ashley interrogated.

"Why would I know why Cerberus is here?"

"I mean, you WORKED for them like over half a year ago. There's a possibility that-"

"Here we go again. The 'I worked with Cerberus' rant. Get over it already. I haven't had any contact with them since the Omega 4 Relay."

"Fine, Commander." Ashley spat.

Once they made it into the base on Mars, they were swarmed by Cerberus forces. They took them down quick and easy and proceeded with the mission. As they were heading for the next checkpoint, they heard one of the covers for the air ducts being kicked out and a familiar figure dropping from the ceiling with Cerberus forces pursuing closely behind.

It was none other than Liara T'soni, hoisting Cerberus troops into the air with a singularity field and shooting them down with her pistol.

James began to rush toward her, but Shepard grabbed his arm and pulled him backward.

"Relax, James. She's with us."

She strolled towards Liara, grabbing her hands with both of hers and planting a kiss on her lips. Liara romantically stroked her cheek as she backed away.

"Shepard, what are you doing here?"

"I heard that we discovered something big. Hackett ordered us to come, said you'd know what was going on. Can you help us?"

"I can." She strolled to the window where they could see Cerberus taking a tram toward the archives. "I've discovered blueprints to a Prothean device that could be capable of wiping out the repers." Liara informed. "It's possible that Cerberus caught wind and have come here to steal them."

"I guess that means we've got to beat Cerberus to the punch. James go back to the ship, we're taking Liara with us instead."

James frowned, and without arguing, headed back to the ship.

Liara led them toward the archives where on the way they were continuously interrupted by Cerberus troops. They stopped by the tram controls, where they made a disappointing discovery.

"It looks like they already made it to the archives."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Negative. The archives are on a separate network and I'm completely locked out."

"Damn it!" Shepard hissed.

"Maybe there is something we can do. Helmet to helmet communication. If we can find a Cerberus troopers helmet, we can communicate with the commanding officer and make them think the Alliance forces were taken care of," Ashley suggested.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Ash." Shepard nodded and Ashley went off.

Liara glanced at Ashley and back to the console. "She seems very capable."

" _And hot,"_ Shepard mumbled under her breath, watching Ashley's backside as she went.

Once Ashley was out of sight, Shepard returned to Liara and watched the security cameras.

"Who's that?" Shepard questioned as a woman popped up on the screen. She looked to be hurriedly sifting through papers and rushing to exit the room.

"That's Dr. Eva Core. She arrived a few days ago." Liara informed.

"Commader, I think I've found something!" Ashley called.

The commander met up with Ashley in the next room and saw her crouched over a dead Cerberus Assault Trooper.

"It looks like his helmets got a radio in it." She took off his helmet. "Maybe you could use this to-" she was cut short by her own shocked gasping. "What happened to him? He looks like a husk. Cerberus claims they're for the advancement of mankind, yet they do this to their people? For all I knew, Shepard, they could've done this to you."

"Well, they didn't." Shepard replied quickly, trying to change the subject. She was sick and tired of Ashley always bringing up the Cerberus thing and she didn't want to continue on that path of conversation for much longer.

"I'm sorry, Commander. It's just-"

"It's just stop mentioning it and move on already. Just hand me the damn helmet."

Shepard took the radio helmet from Ashley.

"Uhh, this is... Delta Team. Come in?"

"Delta Team? Where the hell have you been?" a rugged voice responded.

"We were clearing out the remaining Alliance troops. We need you to send us a tram to the archives stat!"

"Will do."

"Do you think they believed that?" Ashley asked.

"If they fell for it, they'll find out the truth pretty soon."

Once the tram was sent, they were bombarded by more Cerberus troops. It was almost as if they were never ending. Each tram had at least a dozen of them. Shepard began to wonder to herself how they were even able to recruit as many people as she was killing.

Once they made it to the end of the tram station, they arrived at another lab close to the archives. Ashley noted that there was a video of what had happened on a console on the desk. Shepard pressed play on it and they were in disbelief at what they saw.

* * *

 _A trooper from stationed on Mars was looking directly at the console. It seemed as if he was in the middle of a video call. There was another trooper standing close behind._

 _"The emergency protocols just kicked in and everything is locked down."_

 _Just then, Eva Core walked into view._

 _"Doctor, we ne-" he was interrupted by a bullet that Eva had shot through his head, and immediately after, she shot the soldier standing behind him. She headed toward the console and began typing, then she disappeared off screen and the video feed cut to black._

* * *

Liara was in utter disbelief.

"We've got to get to the archives now!"

Once they took the tram to the archives, Liara went to the control panel and started typing away. As she was unlocking the blueprints she could see that something was still blocking access.

As Liara was attempting to bypass the shutout, The Illusive Man appeared next to them in the form of a hologram. Liara drew her gun and aimed it toward him.

"Shepard." He started.

"Illusive Man." Liara replied putting her gun away.

"The Protheans. A fascinating race. They left all of this for us to find, and yet we've squandered it."

"Listen, Illusive Man, I have zero time for your bullshit. Leave the archives alone and let me handle this." Shepard barked.

"You don't get it, Shepard. These archives hold the key to solving the reaper threat, and I know exactly what to do with this information. I'm know what's best for mankind, and if you don't understand that, then we're done here." He hung up and sat back in his chair. "Goodbye, Shepard."

"The information, it's being erased!" Liara revealed.

* * *

Ashley was surveying the area when she discovered Eva Core at another nearby console.

"Hey you! Step away from that NOW!" Ashley ordered.

The Doctor completely ignored her and continued on.

"I said, step away from that now or else I'll shoot!"

The Doctor whipped around, kicking Ashley in the pelvis and crushing the console, before darting off.

"She's got the data! We've got to hurry!"

The team chased her all the way through the building, passed the tram station, passed MORE Cerberus troops, and finally to a point where a Cerberus tram had landed to pick her up. She hopped aboard the tram and as it flew off Shepard called over the radio for help.

"Normandy come in! Joker! James! Anybody! We need help immediately!"

"I got this one Commander," James radioed back.

Moments later, James came in piloting a shuttle and crashing into the one that held the menacing doctor. It came crashing to the ground with a fierce explosion, blowing off the fake skin of the doctor and revealing the metal underneath. She strolled toward where Ashley was slumped on the ground and lifted her by her neck.

She radioed The Illusive Man.

"Orders?"

"Eliminate her."

She banged Ashley's body against the destroyed shuttle twice before dropping her to the ground and targeting Shepard. She raced toward Shepard, forcing Shepard to respond with gunshots. It took four bullets to stop her. Once the Normandy landed, Shepard picked up Ashley and carried her onto the ship. James followed close behind carrying the body of what was once Eva Core.

* * *

She plopped Ashley down on a bed in the infirmary. She stood over her, staring at her damaged face.

"She needs medical attention Shepard." Liara informed.

Shepard didn't seem to be listening to her as she didn't look up or reply.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you." Shepard answered solemnly without looking up.

"We have to leave the Sol System."

"... I know."

Liara left the room as Shepard continued standing over Ashley's body.

She didn't particularly feel any special connection towards Ashley, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed about her getting injured as soon as she joined the squad, especially when she started showing signs of finally being an adequate squad member. She took Ashley's left hand and felt it when she noticed something odd.

"Is that-" Shepard stopped herself.

She couldn't believe she'd just noticed what appeared to be an engagement ring on Ashley's finger.


	3. It's Seymour Now

Shepard went to the war room to meet with Admiral Hackett over vid comm.

"Did you get the data from Mars?" Hackett asked.

"No." Shepard replied quickly.

"What do you mean 'No'?"

"Well, when we got there, Cerberus was there too, and they took most of the information. But we do have some stuff. I'm not a scientist, so Liara will explain."

Liara entered the room with her omni-tool prepared.

"What do you have for me, doctor?"

"I believe that we've discovered blueprints to a weapon, massive in size and scope, capable of unquantifiable levels of destruction."

"Send me the blueprints and we'll do our own analysis. In the meantime, you should speak with the council and see what they can do to help."

"Thanks, Admiral."

* * *

Once they made it to the Citadel, they were greeted by Captain Bailey.

"Captain Bailey! What a pleasant surprise!" Shepard greeted.

"Nice to see you, too, Shepard. And it's Commander Bailey now."

"Commander?"

"It's not the same as what you do. C-Sec Commander and Alliance Commander are very different jobs. For me it just means more paper pushing and more ordering people around."

"That sounds awfully boring," she said with a yawn. "Anyway, I'm here to meet with the council."

"They're on the next floor. Also, your friend is in the Huerta Memorial, you could go check on her before you talk to the council."

"Nah, I'll check on her later. Council business is important, ya know."

"Alright, whatever you say, Shepard. Right this way."

She followed Bailey onto the elevator and up to the council floor.

* * *

"So you're not going to help me is what I heard." Shepard concluded.

"We want to help you, but the reapers have already broken our defenses and we're barely making it with our troops as it is," announced the Turian council member.

Shepard turned her head to the Asari councilor. "The reapers haven't broken YOUR defenses yet."

"Uh... umm..," she scrambled for an excuse. "We... uhh... we just don't want to help you."

"So that's how it's going to be?"

The Salarian councilor raised a finger. "You didn't ask for Salarian aid."

"Can you help?"

"Negative. Just felt left out."

Shepard clenched her fist before announcing, "I should've let the Destiny Ascension blow to hell when I had the chance."

As she began storming off she was stopped by the Turian councilor calling her name.

"I want to help you, Shepard. How about a deal for a deal."

"I'm listening."

"We need you to head to one of Palaven's moons and extract the Primarch."

"And then you'll help Earth?"

He nodded.

"Okay, you've got a deal. Now I've got some other business to attend to, if you'll excuse me."

* * *

Shepard stood in the elevator, on her way to the Huerta Memorial, when she saw a button for a floor that said "Purgatory."

 _Hospital or clubbing?,_ She asked herself. Maybe she'd loosen up after a few drinks before seeing Ashley all bruised and battered in the hospital. She pushed the button for Purgatory.

Once she arrived she ordered a drink, did some dancing, ate some buffalo wings, and chatted up a few old fans. She was getting ready to leave when she noticed someone in the club she'd recognized. She didn't believe it until she was up close, but there she was sitting on her famous couch.

 _Aria T'loak?_

Shepard approached the couch, but was stopped by a rough looking man with a 5 o'clock shadow, brown eyes, and the most ragged cheap wig she'd ever seen.

"You here to see Aria?" the man asked putting on a poor imitation of a Scottish accent, which sounded hilarious when paired with his shockingly deep voice.

"Yeah, what's it to you, wig man?" Shepard mocked while simultaneously stifling a giggle.

"I'm her bodyguard. And don't insult my wi- I mean haircut that is obviously not a wig."

Shepard blew at the top of his head knocking his wig to the ground.

"Alan, I know it's you." She said, smugly grinning at her poor twin brother.

Alan, shocked, hurriedly picked his wig up off the floor and adjusted it on the top of his head.

"Shh, German, keep it down. I'm still hiding from the Alliance, you know. And unless we're talking in private, it's Seymour now." he whispered.

"The wig's not cutting it, Seymour. Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to Aria. We'll catch up later."

Just as she was heading off, she remembered something. She grabbed Alan's arm and pulled him toward her.

"Hey, Al- Seymour, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"When was the last time you spoke to Ashley?"

"Ashley? About a week ago. We've been keeping in contact as frequently as possible, especially since our engagement."

Shepard's eyes widened.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Me and Ashley are engaged... again. You should probably speak more to her about it, but she was thinking of asking you to be a maid of honor at our wedding, well, considering we don't elope."

She tried to disguise the look of disbelief on her face with one of genuine concern.

"About that, I guess I should tell you she rejoined the Normandy recently."

"Really? That's great! How did that go?"

"It went terribly," Shepard replied blankly. "She was attacked by an insane Cerberus robot doctor and now she is incapacitated in the hospital. You should probably go see her." Shepard finished, almost nonchalantly.

"What?" Alan questioned with tears filling his eyes as a look of horror came over him. "I should go." He wiped his face and rushed toward the elevator, bumping into quite a few people as he did so.

Shepard shrugged and went towards Aria's couch. She plopped herself down next to her.

"Shepard? Long time, no see." She looked in the direction Alan ran off towards. "What happened to my bodyguard? Where's Seymour going? He seems upset. You didn't mention anything to him about his wig, did you?" she questioned.

"Don't worry about that right now. What are you doing on the Citadel? What happened to Omega?"

Aria sighed. "The Illusive Man happened. Cerberus happened," she remarked angrily.

"I'm sorry." Shepard replied sympathetically.

"Took everything from me except for my couch," she said, patting her favored sofa. "But don't worry, I'll take Omega back, and I'll make The Illusive Man pay." She finished with a creepy smirk, giving Shepard the urge to scoot away from her.

"I'm going to go now. You take care of yourself, Aria."

She stared forward, no expression. "Don't worry about me, Shepard."

Her tone made the blood in Shepard's veins run cold. She quickly scurried away, finally on her way to the hospital.


End file.
